Spanish mobile strategies need work

BARCELONA: A majority of Spanish businesses have formal mobile strategies in place, but many are not currently implementing them successfully, according to a new report.

Consulting firm Accenture carried out a survey of 100 executives in Spain as part of an international poll for its Accenture Mobility Insights Report 2014.

The company found that 79% of Spanish businesses saw digital technologies as a strategic investment, while only 10% had no strategy for mobility.

But, said Accenture, "there is still a series of strategic, operating and organisational shortcomings that represent a hurdle when it comes to fully accomplishing the potential of mobility in business."

These included a lack of indicators to measure effectiveness and a lack of adequate investment in stated priorities.

Among their consumer-focused mobile priorities for the next year, Spanish companies were looking to access new markets (63%), develop new mobile services and products (62%) and to drive revenue by means of greater interaction with customers (58%), including by generating better client knowledge through mobile analytics (57%).

Enterprise-focused mobile priorities included monetising data from connected products (75%), streamlining operations through the ability to track orders, assets or inventory (68%) and improving asset reliability and maintenance through deployment of sensors and other mobile technologies (67%).

Spain also emerged at the forefront of a move towards connected products, especially connected vehicles, which were highlighted by 56% of Spanish respondents as being the most relevant to them. Only the US registered a higher figure here (64%).

Connected building and plant solutions were the second most relevant application of connectivity for Spanish respondents (44%), while wearable, sensor-based devices came in third (34%).

"It is encouraging to see that Spanish companies are embracing the importance of mobility, with nearly eight out of ten placing it in their top five priorities, and 95% meeting or exceeding their ROI goals for mobility implementations to date," said Ismael Sancha, managing director, Accenture Mobility Spain.

But Sancha also stressed that firms would have to adopt "an overarching mobility strategy" to grow their businesses. This would need to include "all elements of the business and engage users, as well as decision-makers and IT teams."